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Put aside poor conditions. Currently, the surface isn't ready.

With NHL players gearing up to return to the Olympic Games for the initial occasion in more than a ten years, building work on the primary hockey arena for the Milan-Cortina Games is going down to the wire.

Officials announced on Wednesday that the primary test event for the 16,000-capacity Santagiulia arena that was scheduled for December has been relocated to a more compact venue – and that no new test event has been arranged yet.

The issue creates the possibility that there might not be a match held in the main arena until the puck is dropped for the women's initial games at the Olympics on 5 February – 24 hours before the inaugural event.

“It’s going to be extremely tight to the beginning of the Olympics, the schedule is very tight. However, we were aware,” Milan-Cortina local organizing committee CEO Andrea Varnier stated in a recent update.

The event that was intended to evaluate the Santagiulia playing surface was a segment of the U20 world championship from 8-14 December. That event has been moved to the Rho Fair hockey venue, which is being set up inside a giant exhibition hall on the outskirts of Milan and will host lesser games during the Olympics.

Usually, new Olympic venues are tested at least the year before to hosting podium competitions. And with a large hockey arena, it’s not only about the ice and making sure that the playing surface is prepared and secure. It’s additionally about testing food outlets, restrooms and everything else inside a newly constructed contemporary stadium.

The Santagiulia venue, which is being built by a private company, is scheduled to become the nation's largest covered stadium. For after the Olympics, it’s being considered as a possible upcoming venue of the ATP Tour Finals tennis event.

In spite of the postponements and concerns, high-priced tickets are already being sold for matches at the Santagiulia arena. Seats for the men's championship game on 22 February – the final day of the games – are priced at as much as €1,400 (over $1,600). That’s more than the price of any other athletic competition at the Milano Cortina Games. Only passes for the inaugural and final events are priced higher.

The return of NHL stars at the Olympics was announced last February, with the world’s top hockey organization allowing its players to participate in the Winter Games for the initial occasion since 2014 in Sochi.

Men's Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to run from 11-22 February. Women's event runs from 5-19 February.